Space defense, US troop deployments and a “hugely significant” deal with the UK are among Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s achievements during his whirlwind diplomatic tour of Europe and North America.
Defense has dominated his agenda this week in meetings with G7 allies, as Kishida seeks to draw friends closer in the face of growing pressure from China, analysts said.
Japan wants to normalize its “role as a great power,” said Amy King, associate professor at the Australian National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre.
Photo: Reuters
It seeks “the kinds of strategic partnerships and defense relationships that are quite normal for other countries, but which have been largely off-limits to Japan” because of its pacifist post-war constitution, King said.
Kishida’s conversations have also touched on trade and climate issues, showing that he is trying to broaden Tokyo’s relationships with its allies, she added.
Japan is “insuring itself against a decline in US capacity, and working to draw other major democratic states into Asia,” King said.
Tokyo unveiled a major defense overhaul in December, and designated China the “greatest strategic challenge ever” to Japan’s security.
“In the past, Japan was able to separate economy and politics,” doing business with countries such as China and Russia while enjoying the security protections of its alliance with the US, said Mitsuru Fukuda, a professor at Nihon University who studies crisis management.
Deepening friction between democratic and authoritarian countries means “we cannot do that anymore,” he said.
Japan is hosting this year’s G7, and Kishida is visiting all bloc members except Germany on a trip capped yesterday by talks with US President Joe Biden in Washington
Christopher Johnstone, head of the Japan program at the US-Based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Kishida’s White House visit was a “capstone” for his security reforms and could offer him a domestic political boost.
US and Japanese foreign and defense ministers have already agreed to extend a mutual defense treaty to space, and announced the deployment of a more agile US Marine unit on Japanese soil.
In the UK, Kishida signed a deal creating a legal basis for the two sides to deploy troops on each other’s territory. Japan made a similar agreement with Australia last year, and discussions are underway for one with the Philippines.
Beijing has watched these and other developments with some discomfort, warning Japan last year against “deviating” from bilateral relations,” but analysts said that Tokyo is moving carefully to avoid directly challenging China.
“Expanding its military network is definitely one effective way to counter or try to deter China,” Japan Institute of International Affairs research fellow Daisuke Kawai said.
However, because the deals stop short of full alliances with mutual defense commitments, they should remain “acceptable for now” to Beijing, Kawai said.
While the overhaul of Japan’s defense policy and spending has been interpreted by some as a break with the past, others see it as a more subtle shift.
The moves could “complicate Chinese calculations on how far it can push the envelope of its activities in the region,” said Yee Kuang Heng, a professor of international security at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy.
However, they “still do not tip the regional military balance vis-a-vis China significantly.”
“These deterrent efforts should not be seen as destabilizing or provocative,” International Institute for Strategic Studies senior fellow Euan Graham said. “Rather, they represent a belated adjustment to a balance of power that has shifted significantly in favor of these authoritarian challengers.”
Before arriving in Washington, Kishida met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa on Thursday, where they committed to bolstering their security partnership in the Indo-Pacific region. They also discussed energy partnerships.
“Canada can be a reliable supplier not just of energy, but of critical minerals of commodities and resources, including agricultural resources,” Trudeau told a joint news conference.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old